"The last ten years have seen a new generation of young stars taking over Africa's music scene. New styles like bongo flava in East Africa, hiplife in Ghana and kwaito in South Africa rule the charts. The stars sell hundreds of CDs, and their music is on heavy rotation in the local radios, bars, clubs and minibusses. Although in high demand locally, the news of this exciting club music from the motherland of black music is only beginning to spread internationally. Urban Africa Club introduces some of Africa's greatest stars and scenes on the continent. West Africa is represented by V.I.P. from Accra, the unchallenged superstars of Ghana's hiplife scene. From Gabon, a distinctive melodic type of hip-hop is represented by Lord Ekomy Ndong with his track, "Exile." Senegal's hip-hop scene probably has the most in common with hip-hop throughout the rest of the world, and this compilation features a new track by one of the pioneers of hip-hop in Africa, Awadi, the founder of Senegalese supergroup Positive Black Soul, who released the first international African hip-hop album ever. The African diaspora with its often very conscious lyrics is represented here by K'naan, a hip-hop artist born in Mogadishu (Somalia) and now based in Canada. East Africa offers up the dancehall of Kampala (Uganda), and one of the stars is Peter Miles. Neighboring Dar es Salaam has developed its own hip-hop blend called bongo flava, featured here with a track by Professor Jay that dominated the airwaves in East Africa in 2005, and Mangwea with another all-time bongo flava hit. The two supergroups of Kenya are Necessary Noize, a duo made up of Wyre and East Africa's Nazizi and Gidigidi Majimaji, featured here with a kwaito-flavored club track. Finally, one of the most influential regions and styles in Africa at the moment, South Africa and kwaito, is represented by Zola and his rough lyrics from the townships of Jo'burg. His TV show Zola 7 is watched by 5 million people each week, and has since spread kwaito fever far into Southern and East Africa." (label info)